Bella and Neville landed pretty roughly on the ground, once they fell out of the apparition. Bella was never very graceful at landing from that mode of transportation and she dragged Neville down with her.
Bella looked at her father's body again and prayed that this was all a very bad dream. That he was not dead and that they were all relaxing. But in Bella's heart, she knew that this was her reality.
"Where's the casket Bella? I'll go get it," Neville asked his fiancée, who gestured towards a shed in the cemetery.
"His casket is on the bottom shelf, with his name marked on it," Bella said and Neville ran off to retrieve it.
Bella waited for Neville to return and decided to walk towards where her father would be buried.
The cemetery was not overgrown with bushes and weeds, but it was well kept for by the family magic that protected this place. Only family by blood and those they considered family could enter these grounds. Bella had known that when she said Harry and the others could meet her here at the cemetery because they were like her family and the wards would recognize them as such.
Bella then came across the grave she was looking for, and knelt down in front of the headstone.
Neville, meanwhile, had found the casket and was levitating it to the spot where his would have been father-in-law lay. As he lowered the casket, he saw that Bella was gone, but a quick survey of the grounds revealed that she was kneeling in front of another headstone.
Probably her mother, Neville thought, as he decided to prep Severus for burial. He levitated him into the open casket and laid his hands across his abdomen.
"Professor, I know you didn't always like me, but I promise you that I will take great care of Bella and love her until the end of eternity. Nothing will happen to her when I'm around, I promise you that and I never go back on my promises," Neville whispered to the deceased man, before walking over to check on Bella.
Bella was lost in thought as she knelt in front of her mother's grave. She had never known her, but her dada had brought her here several times to place lily flowers on her grave, which was her mother's favorite flower.
On the headstone it read:
Capella Melania Black Snape
January 31, 1960- June 18, 1980
Beloved daughter, sister, wife and mother
Gone to her maker far too early
May she find peace in death
After all, death is but the next great adventure
Bella knew that since her mother was in the Black family, she was named after a star. Capella was a constellation in the sky and Melania was the name of her paternal grandmother.
Bella always heard stories about how her mother was not a Pureblood supremacist and how she felt that muggleborn belonged in the Wizarding world. But she never said anything because she had seen what had happened to her favorite cousin, Andromeda, when she married a muggleborn. Bella always remembered that her dada used to say that they married for love, not power. He came from nothing and she came from everything. They loved each other dearly and that is the reason they married.
"Bella," Neville asked when he finally was standing beside his fiancée.
Bella jumped and looked towards Neville, cause she did not hear him approach her. She was too lost in thought.
"Yes Neville, I was just spending time with my mother," Bella said, as she got onto her feet and walked forward.
"I understand, are you ready to say goodbye? Because he's ready," Neville said, trying to handle the situation very delicately.
"Yes I'm ready, my mom has waited for him long enough," Bella said resolutely, as the couple made their way to the place where Severus Snape lay.
Bella knelt down beside her father's casket and looked at him with longing eyes, as if she still wished and believed that this was a dream. Neville stood a few feet away, letting father and daughter have their last moments on this earth together.
"Hey dad, I forgive you for everything. For making me go to America, for not saying a proper goodbye to me. I'm happy, Neville ill be a great husband and I know you would have accepted him. Mom has been waiting for you long enough, I'm ready to let her have you back," Bella said, as she chocked back tears.
Bella then leaned in towards the casket and gave her father on last kiss on the forehead before leaned back and started to lower the casket lid.
Neville watched as Bella very slowly closed the lid; he knew she was not ready to let go. But he knew that nothing could bring back the dead and Neville knew that Bella knew that as well.
Bella finally got the courage to close the lid of the casket completely and it automatically sealed so it could never be opened again. Bella stood up and motioned for Neville to come towards her.
Neville walked towards Bella and he took her in his arms and let her pour out her tears into his chest. He knew what it was like to lose family, even if they were still alive.
"Are you ready Bella?" Neville asked his crying fiancée, who looked up at him.
"Yes, its time he rested in peace," Bella said, as she cast a spell over to casket to make it lighter, so only 2 people needed to carry it.
Bella grabbed one side of the casket, while Neville grabbed the other. As they walked the short distance to the already prepared grave, Bella knew that she was now letting go of her past and it would be the start of her future.
Bella and Neville gently place the casket on the ground in front of the grave that was prepared for her father. When someone in the Prince family died, a grave would dig itself, so it would be easier on the family. Bella was glad that they did not have to dig a grave or she probably would have lost it.
"Let's do it Neville, before I can't," Bella whispered to the young man.
Neville just nodded and lifted up his side of the casket and waited for Bella to do the same. Bella did so and when they placed the casket over the open earth, ribbons formed around the caskets that allowed for Neville and Bella to carefully lower the casket to the bottom.
When Bella and Neville were done lowering the casket, the ground began to cover up itself, again making it easier on the family. Bella struggled to catch the last few glimpses of her father's final resting place before it was buried from view.
Finally the earth was covered up, and Bella walked over and knelt in front of her father's half of the headstone. She knew immediately what she wanted it to say. Bella took out her wand and pointed it at the headstone and before Neville's eyes, words appeared on the ebony surface.
They read:
Severus Tobias Snape
January 9, 1960- May 2, 1998
Beloved husband and father
May death bring him the peace he deserves
May he be reunited with his true love, Capella
After all, death is but the next great adventure
In between the 2 names she wrote:
They finally have each other back
Forever
For eternity
Bella stood up and looked at the tombstone and smiled slightly. Her father may have loved Lily his whole life, but his true love was her mother, and she always knew that.
Bella heard rustling behind her and when she and Neville turned around, they saw the rest of their friends coming towards them.
Bella noticed that Hermione was carrying a bouquet of lilies and she knew that they were also his favorite flower. Not just because of Lily, but because they were her mother's favorite, as well.
"Hey Bella, I'm so sorry this ever happened," Harry apologized once again for his failure at being able to help her dad.
"Its not your fault Harry. Voldemort is the only one I blame for his death," Bella affirmed to her best friend, who looked at the headstone and saw what had been written.
"He may have loved my mother, but he loved your mother far more, didn't he?" Harry asked, it was more like a statement than a question.
"He told me that your mother and him became friends again after you were born. He apologized for what he called her and they regained their friendship. He did everything he did because your mom trusted him after he broke her trust before; he was not going to do it again," Bella explained.
"I hope you don't mind if I lay these flowers here?" Hermione asked with an unsure voice.
"Of course you can, Hermione, be my guest," Bella urged her on.
Hermione then knelt down on the earth in front of the headstone of Bella's parents. She placed the lilies in between them and cast an everlasting charm on them.
Hermione hugged Bella tightly before she went back and held Ron's hand.
"Are you all ready to go and see where we'll be living?" Bella asked her friends, who all nodded yes.
Bella assumed that cemeteries were never fun fir anyone, especially after burying so many of their friends and family.
"Let's all hold hands and I'll apparate us to my house," Bella said and everyone listened to her.
When Bella saw that everyone was holding hands, she closed her eyes and thought back to her dark, quiet street/neighborhood, known as Spinner's End.
Suddenly they disapparated from the cemetery and apparated u=into a very quiet and dark corner of Spinner's End.
